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<title>consistency - owen lindmark by penaltbox</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22395223">consistency - owen lindmark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/penaltbox/pseuds/penaltbox'>penaltbox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Hockey RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>College Hockey, F/M, Hockey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 09:07:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,421</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22395223</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/penaltbox/pseuds/penaltbox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>consistency - owen lindmark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You slowly open your eyes and find your forehead pressed against Owen’s arm as he kept you trapped near the wall by your bed, laying on your side and facing him. He was the perfect space heater and you try to wiggle a little closer to him. He was scrolling through something on his phone with the arm you didn’t have trapped against his side and you look up at him. He smiles when he finally notices you’re awake. </p><p>“Well hi,” he says softly, “did you have a nice nap?”</p><p>You nod, pressing your face back down into your bed. You were supposed to be helping him study, but you’d been so tired that you needed to lie down for a bit. Owen had no problem with that idea and joined you instantly. </p><p>“How long did I sleep?” You mumble. </p><p>He laughs a little, “almost two hours.”</p><p>Your head shoots up to look at him, wondering if he was lying. How had you slept for that long in the afternoon? You blamed the fact he’d pulled the blinds closed before you had laid down which made the room pretty dark, and well, you always slept better when he was there. </p><p>He sets his phone down, sighing and glancing over at you for a second. You give him a little smile and notice he seems a little off. </p><p>“You okay, O?” You ask, your fingers tracing shapes on his arm, feeling the muscles twitch a little beneath your fingertips. </p><p>He rolls his head to the side, looking at you. He doesn’t say a word but you know he’s got something on his mind. He takes a minute before he speaks up. </p><p>“Wisconsin is probably the longest I’ll ever live somewhere,” he says softly. </p><p>You frown a little, looking up at him. And it sets in that he’d moved so much while growing up and now he was basically set for the next four years. </p><p>“Yeah, if you hang around for the full four,” you nod, “I wouldn’t mind having you stick around that long.”</p><p>You pull your hand back from his arm, feeling a little embarrassed for saying that so casually. He reaches over right away, taking your hand with a little whine. </p><p>“Wait, that felt good.”</p><p>He rolls onto his stomach then and scoots almost too close. Your faces aren’t far from each other and you can see his every feature. His cheek is pressed down into the pillow and you know what he wants. </p><p>Your hand moves onto his back, slowly tracing patterns you could never repeat, but it was a feeling you’d never forget. His back muscles relax under your hand and you know he’ll probably talk now that he’s more comfortable. </p><p>“Are you happy to not have to leave?” You ask him, prodding for a little more reasoning into why he seemed somewhat upset by it. </p><p>He nods as much as he can, “honestly yeah. After the commute we used to make to Chicago any sort of stability seems nice.”</p><p>“That was a lot of driving, huh?” You keep your voice low, the proximity between you two not requiring anything more. </p><p>He bites his lip and nods yet again. You weren’t sure why he was guarded about this. He’d always been an open book with you in the past and it worried you a little that he may not fully trust you or something. You trusted him with everything, even your heart. </p><p>“Owen, you know you can talk to me,” you remind him gently. </p><p>“Yeah, I know I can. I guess it’s just crazy to look back and see all the different place we went on the drop of a hat. I love that my dad served, but it wasn’t always easy. It sucks to pick up and go like that all the time, but you just do it,” he explains, letting the walls you thought you saw down.</p><p>You lift your hand from his back to his hair, carding your fingers through it. You could do it all day honestly, and you were pretty sure he’d let you too. He closes his eyes at the feeling, a little smile slipping onto his face. </p><p>“You’ve worked so hard to get where you are, O. I’m proud of you and I know you’ll be a great NHL player one day,” you say, smiling even though he’s not looking at you. </p><p>“I hope so. I don’t want to get out of school and have to move around from team to team every year. I love hockey but I’d like to have some consistency in my life,” he opens his eyes, “I mean, other than you. You’ve been a big constant for me.”</p><p>You feel the butterflies erupt in you, looking up at the ceiling to try and avoid him seeing your expression. You’d been crazy about Owen since you met him, but you were pretty sure he didn’t quite have the same feelings you did. </p><p>“Did I say something wrong?” He laughs, gently grabbing your chin to make you look at him. </p><p>“Not at all. I’m glad I’m a constant in your life now since it was always so crazy.”</p><p>He falls silent after that and you return to letting your hand run aimlessly across his broad back. These moments were what did you in for him. He didn’t always have to talk. He didn’t act like some hot shot the way some athletes did. He was calm with a type of confidence that just drew you in. But he was so kind too, and that was one of your favorite things about him. </p><p>“I like being around you,” he says suddenly. </p><p>“I like being around you too,” you repeat, honestly meaning it. </p><p>He rolls onto his side, your hand never losing contact with him. He pulls you against his chest then and it takes you by surprise. You look up at him, knowing your face matched the bright red Wisconsin hockey sweatshirt of his you’d stolen weeks ago. </p><p>He’s even closer now than he had been and you can feel every part of him pressed against you. You try and keep your cool, but you’re pretty sure he knows how flustered you are. </p><p>“Please tell me I haven’t been reading this wrong,” he whispers, leaning in close.</p><p>“No, I think you’ve got it right,” you smile, letting him close the distance. </p><p>You kiss him back gently at first, testing to see what he was going to do. He returns it with a little more push, a little more need to be close. </p><p>His hand slips up your sweatshirt, falling just above your hip, but doesn’t move any further. You’re content to sit there and keep kissing him, not even sure how long it goes on for. </p><p>You finally pull back, a smile on both of your faces. He pushes a piece of your hair behind your ear and gives you one more soft kiss. </p><p>“I love having you around and at some point it became me wanting you around for different reasons. I really like you, but I didn’t want to lose my best friend and number one support group,” he says, which makes you melt. </p><p>“I’m not going anywhere, O. Not unless you tell me to,” you say, reaching up to run your thumb under his swollen bottom lip. </p><p>He leans down quickly to kiss it, “well you’re all mine, so no, I don’t think I’ll be tell you to go any time soon. Or maybe ever. You’re the one constant I need in life.”</p><p>“Oh, I’m all yours? Says who?” You pick on him, blushing from his statement. </p><p>He fakes shocked, his hand coming up to his cheek, “oh I’m so sorry, should I ask you dramatically?”</p><p>You giggle, “yeah absolutely!”</p><p>“Well, I need you to be my girlfriend or I’ll be so sad and then you’ll be sad too because you always say how you hate seeing me sad. I need my one consistency in life.”</p><p>You pretend to think about it for a second and Owen laughs, leaning in to press you onto your back. He hovers over you, kissing every inch of your face he can get until you’re laughing so hard you can barely breathe. </p><p>He props himself up on his elbows smiling down at you, and yeah, you could really get used to this with him. You rest your hand on his cheek and he leans into it, letting you catch your breath again. </p><p>“I’d love to be your constant,” you nod.</p>
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